m 


A 


M.    H.    Houston 

;\      _ ■ — 

0    *  .  ■■■' — . 

How  wa-^VJesus  Baptized? 

\  \  t 


BS2424 
.I.H84    =K' 


^vi 


'^ 


i 


a* 


JUN  17   196£ 


:* 


y^ 


.LH84 


\\ 


!t  < 


Rev.  M.  H.  HOUSTON. 


vv  d: 


JL-riurc 


H  o  w  w  A  s^^^^'"'*^^^: 

NOV   6    1925 

JESUS  BAPTIZED? 


BY    , 

y 

REV.  M.  W.  HOUSTON. 


RICHMOND : 

Whittet  &  Shepperson,  Printers,  iooi  Main  Street. 

i88i. 


HOW  WAS 

JESUS  BAPTIZED? 


Was  it  by  immersion  or  by  sprinkling? 

Suppose  the  question  were  raised,  How  was 
Mr.  Arthur  Smith  baptized  in  Humility  Church, 
New  York,  in  the  year  1870  ?  Suppose  it 
were  shown  that  the  form  of  worship  of  Hu- 
mility Church  directed  that  the  pastor  should 
always  baptize  by  sprinkling.  Suppose  it  were 
proved  that  for  a  hundred  years  the  pastors  of 
Humility  Church  had  administered  baptism  by 
sprinkling,  and  in  no  other  way.  Then  when 
the  question  was  raised.  How  was  Mr.  Arthur 
Smith  baptized  in  Humility  Church  ?  the  in- 
ference would  be  irresistible.     He  must  have 


4  How  was  Jesus  Baptized? 

been  baptized  by  sprinkling.  Every  one  ac- 
quainted with  the  church  would  say  so  at  once. 
If  any  man  said  otherwise,  he  would  be  bound 
to  furnish  the  clearest  and  most  direct  evidence 
for  so  remarkable  an  assertion. 

MODE  OF  BAPTISM  FIXED. 
Now,  not  for  a  hundred  years  only,  but  for 
fifteen  hundred  years  before  Jesus  was  baptized, 
baptism  had  been  administered  in  tlie  nation 
to  which  He  belonged.  It  was  a  religious  rite 
universally  known  and  practised  among  the 
Jews.  All  biblical  scholars  admit  this.  Every 
writer  on  this  subject,  Fsedobaptist  or  anti- 
Paedobaptist,  has  declared  it.  Paul  shows  us 
(Heb.  ix.  10,)  that,  from  the  time  of  Moses 
down  to  his  own  time,  there  had  been  "divers 
baptisms."*  Every  allusion  to  baptism  in  the 
gospels  implies  that  it  was  a  rite  with  which 
all  Jews  were  familiar.  If  we  ascertain,  then, 
how  baptism  had  been  administered  among  the 
Jews  during  the  fifteen  hundred  years  before 

*  English  version,  "divers  washings." 


How  was  Jesus  Baptized  ?  6 

Christ,  we  will  know  beyond  doubt  how  the 
meek  and  lowly  Jew,  the  blessed  Jesus,  was 
baptized. 

Our  brethren  who  favor  immersion  all  hold 
that  for  God's  people  there  is  only  one  Scriptural 
mode  of  baptism  with  water.  We  fully  assent 
to  this.  We  say,  too,  that  there  is  only  one 
Scriptural  mode  of  baptism  with  water.  If, 
then,  we  fix  the  Scriptural  mode  of  baptism 
before  Christ,  tlie  mode — the  one  only  mode — 
is  fixed  for  all  time  to  come.  Let  us  proceed 
to  do  this. 

FACTS  ADMITTED  BY  ALL. 
In  the  baptism  of  Jesus  by  John  there  are 
some  facts  whicl^  stand  out  clear  and  undis- 
puted— 

1.  There  was  a  divinely-appointed  adminis- 
trator of  the  rite — John.  He  was  of  the  same 
tribe  with  Moses  and  Aaron — the  tribe  of 
Levi. 

2.  The  divinely-appointed  administrator  used 
water. 


6  How  was  Jesus  Baptized  f 

3.  It  was  running  water. 

We  have  now  a  basis  of  facts  admitted  by 
all  sides.  Only  one  mode  of  baptism  with 
water  for  God's  people  ;  that  mode  practised 
through  fifteen  centuries  before  Christ ;  that 
mode  followed  by  John ;  the  divinely-appointed 
administrator  using  water ;  the  water  used  be- 
ing running,  or  as  the  Jews  expressed  it,  living- 
water.  The  question,  then,  is.  How  did  the 
divinely-appointed  administrators  of  the  reli- 
gious rite  from  Moses  to  Christ  use  water  ? 
As  they  administered  the  rite,  so  John  admin- 
istered it.  Was  it  by  immersion,  or  was  it  by- 
sprinkling  ? 

ALWAYS   BY   SPRINKLING;    NEVER    BY   IMMER- 

SIGN. 

The  Scriptures  give  an  answer  to  this  ques- 
tion so  clear,  so  broad,  so  empliatic,  that  it  has 
never  been  challenged.  In  every  case,  from 
Moses  downward,  where  a  divinely-appointed 
administrator  used  water  upon  any  one,  he  al- 
ways sprinkled  the  water  on  the  person ;  he 


How  was  Jesus  Baptized  f  7 

never  immersed.  And  in  every  ease  where  a 
divinely-appointed  administrator  used  water,  it 
was  always  running  water,  and  no  other  kind 
of  water  was  allowed.  These  things  are  sus- 
ceptible of  an  easy  proof;  if  proved,  they  must 
settle  the  question. 

WATER  SPRINKLED  ON  ALL  GOD'S  PEOPLE. 
The  first  instance  recorded  in  the  Bible 
where  a  divinely-appointed  administrator  used 
water  upon  any  one,  is  that  of  Moses  consecrating 
to  God  at  Sinai  the  many  thousands  of  Israel. 
(Compare  Ex.  chap.  xxiv.  and  Heb.  ix.  19-21.) 
The  onlv  water  at  Mount  Sinai  was  the  brook, 
(Ex.  xvii.  6,  and  Deut.  ix.  21,)  which,  spring- 
ing from  the  smitten  rock,  came  leaping  and 
flashing  down  the  mountain  side.  It  was  this 
running  water  which  Moses  used.  And  how 
did  he  use  it  ?  He  sprinkled  it  upon  the  vast 
multitudes  of  his  people.  When  Paul,  in  the 
ninth  chapter  of  Hebrews,  speaks  of  the  "  bap- 
tisms "  of  the  Old  Testament,  he  proceeds  at 
once  to  tell  us  of  two  cases  in  which  water  was 


8  How  was  Jesus  Baptized? 

sprinkled   upon   the  people  of  God.      Moses 
sprinkling  the  people  is  one  of  tliese  cases. 

A  beautiful  analogy  may  be  traced  here  be- 
tween the  first  recorded  baptism  of  the  Old 
Testament,  and  the  first  recorded  baptism  of  the 
New.  Moses  baptized  in  the  wilderness  of  Sinai. 
John  baptized  in  the  wilderness  of  Judea. 
Moses  baptized  hundreds  of  thousands  of  the 
people  of  Israel.  John  baptized  the  multitudes 
that  are  described  as  ''  Jerusalem  and  all  Judea, 
and  all  the  region  round  about  Jordan."  Moses 
used  the  running^  water  of  the  brook.  John 
used  the  running  w^ter  of  the  Jordan.  It 
would  have  been  a  physical  impossibility  for 
Moses  to  immerse  the  thronging  crowds 
about  him.  It  would  have  been  equally 
an  impossibility  for  John  to  immerse  the 
multitudes  that  came  out  to  him.  Moses 
sprinkled  the  watei'  of  the  brook  on  all  the 
people.  As  there  is  only  one  mode  of  baptism, 
John  must  have  sprinkled  the  water  of  the 
Jordan  on  all  the  multitudes.  And  as  John 
baptized  the  multitudes,  so,  no  one  will  dis- 


How  was  Jesus  Baptized  ?  9 

pute,  he  baptized  Jesus.  If  the  multitudes 
were  baptized  by  sprinkling,  Jesus  was  bap- 
tized by  sprinkling  too. 

WATEK  SPRINKLED  ON  CLEANSED  LEPERS. 
The  second  case  in  the  Old  Testament  in 
w^hich  a  divinely-appointed  administrator  used 
water  upon  anyone  is  described  in  thefourteenth 
chapter  of  Leviticus.  In  every  generation 
"  many  lepers  were  in  Israel,'^  and  leprosy  was 
the  hideous  type  of  sin  as  a  disease.  As  in 
every  generation  under  the  gospel  some  sinners 
are  cleansed,  so  in  every  generation  under  the 
law  some  lepers,  no  doubt,  were  healed.  As  a 
minister  of  God  is  appointed  under  the  gospel 
to  baptize  with  water  the  cleansed  sinner,  so  a 
minister  of  God  was  appointed  under  the  law 
to  baptize  with  water  the  liealed  leper.  The 
minister  under  the  law  was  the  priest.  It  was 
particularly  enjoined  on  him  that  he  should 
use  running  water ;  and  this  running  water  he 
must  sprinkle  on  the  healed  leper.  It  is  plain, 
then,  that  John  the  Baptist's  father,  his  grand- 


10  How  was  Jesus  Baptized? 

father,  and  all  his  priestly  ancestry,  had  again 
and  again  used  water  in  this  way.  They 
went  to  the  river  Jordan,  or  to  the  springs  of 
^non,*  or  to  some  other  flowing  stream ; 
they  took  the  running  water  and  sprinkledvit 
wpon  the  man  now  typically  cleansed  from  sin. 

WATER  SPRINKLED  ON   MEN  SET  APART  FOR 

GOD'S  SERVICE. 

The  third  case  to  which  we  turn  is  the  con- 
secration of  the  Levites  to  God.  (Num.  viii. 
5.)  As  the  minister  of  God  now  solemnly 
consecrates  believers  in  baptism,  so  Moses  con- 
secrated the  Levites.  The  water  he  used  was 
the  water  of  purifying.  The  water  of  purify- 
ing, we  are  told  in  Numbers  xix.  9,  IT,  was 
running  water;  and  God  said  to  Moses,  "  Take 

*  ^non  means  "springs.''  Our  English  version  is 
wrong  in  saying  "there  was  much  water  there."  The 
words  translated  "much  water,"  occur  in  Rev.  i.  15  ;  xiv. 
2 ;  xix.  6,  where  attention  is  called  to  the  rv:shing,  mur- 
muring, musical  sound  of  water  in  motion.  They  indicate 
water  running  in  a  number  of  streams,  either  great  or 
small,  and  in  Revelation  are  rightly  translated  "many 
waters." 


S^oio  was  Jesus  Baptized  ?  11 

the  Levites,  *  *  *  ^^(^  thus  shalt  thou  do 
unto  tliem  to  cleanse  them :  sprinkle  water  of 
purifying  upon  them." 

WATER  SPRINKLED  ON  MEN  TO  CLEANSE  FROM 

TYPICAL  SIN. 

Next  to  leprosy,  and  ranking  above  it  as  an 
awful  type  of  sin,  was  death  The  natural 
state  of  all  men  in  the  world  is  '*'  dead  in  tres- 
passes and  sins."  In  Israel,  every  man  who 
came  in  contact  witli  death  was  defiled. 
Whether  he  touched  a  corpse,  or  a  grave,  or 
the  bone  of  a  man,  or  wliether  he  was  only  in 
the  room  where  a  dead  man  lay,  he  was  pol- 
luted as  by  sin,  and  must  be  cleansed  with 
water.  (Kum.  xix.)  For  this  cleansing  there 
was  a  divinely -appointed  administrator.  It 
was  any  undefiled  person.  The  un defiled  man 
was  to  take  water.  God  again  said  that  it 
must  be  running  water,  and  this  running  w^ater 
the  undefiled  man  must  sprinkle  on  the  defiled. 
If  the  water  was  not  sprinkled  upon  him  he 
was  not  recognized  as  one  of  God's  people. 
He  was  "  cut  off  from  among  the  congregation. 


12  How  was  Jesus  Baptized? 

because  be  batb  defiled  the  sanctuary  of  the 
Lord ;  the  water  of  separation  hath  not  been 
sprinkled  upon  him;  he  is  unclean." 

WATER  SPRINKLED  IN  MILLIONS  OF  CASES. 

In  every  generation  of  Israel,  taken  on  an 
average,  there  were  at  least  three  million  deaths. 
For  each  death  there  were  at  least  seven  per- 
sons who  came  into  the  presence  of  the  corpse, 
or  who  touched  the  grave.  In  every  genera- 
tion, therefore,  tliere  were  at  least  twenty -one 
million  cases  in  which  one  Jew  sprinkled  water 
on  another.  When  we  count  all  the  genera- 
tions from  Moses  to  Christ,  the  millions  swell 
to  a  number  that  no  man  can  conceive.  And 
in  all  these  millions  upon  millions  of  cases, 
persons  went  to  the  river  Jordan,  or  the  brook 
Kishon,  or  the  springs  of  ^non,  or  some 
other  flowing  water;  and  in  every  case  the 
divinely- appointed  administrator  sprinkled  the 
water  on  his  fellow-man. 

Some  persons  have  imagined  that  it  was  a 
novel  sight  in  Israel  when  two  men,  as  John 


How  was  Jesus  Baptized  ?  13 

and  Jesus,  went  down  to  the  river  Jordan  to 
use  water  in  a  religious  rite.  But  to  the  Jew 
there  was  no  novelty  in  this.  It  was  one  of 
the  most  common  sights  in  the  land.  Here  is 
a  man  living  in  the  fertile  valley  of  the  river. 
He  has  just  buried  his  dead.  He  must  seek 
the  ministerial  offices  of  a  friend  that  is  unde- 
filed.  Water  nmst  be  used.  Cistern  water 
will  not  answer.  Well  water  is  forbidden. 
Kunning  water  must  be  procured.  So  the  two 
men  walk  down  to  the  flowing  waters  of  the 
Jordan,  just  as  Jesus  and  John  walked  together. 
The  water  of  the  river  is  taken  up,  and  then 
the  one  who  acts  as  minister  sprinkles  the 
water  on  his  friend.  The  banks  of  the  Jor- 
dan, we  may  be  sure,  had  in  countless  instan- 
ces witnessed  just  such  a  scene  as  this. 

A  SUMMING  UP. 

And  now  we  sum  up  this  part  of  the  case. 

At  Mount  Sinai  a  minister  of  God  consecrated 

hundreds  of  thousands  of  people  by  sprinkling 

running  water  upon  them.     In  every  genera- 


14  How  was  Jesus  Bajptized? 

tion  a  minister  restored  the  cleansed  lepers  to 
the  service  of  God  hj  sprinkling  running  water 
on  tliem.  A  minister  consecrated  the  thou- 
sands of  Levi  to  the  special  work  of  God  by 
sprinkling  running  water  upon  them.  In  every 
generation,  in  millions  of  cases,  a  divinely-ap- 
pointed minister  removed  the  defilement  con- 
tracted from  the  most  hideous  type  of  sin  by 
sprinkling  running  water  on  men.  And  now 
that  John,  a  minister  of  God,  uses  running 
water  upon  Jesus,  what  shall  we  say  ?  That  he 
immersed  Jesus?  Why,  to  say  that  John  im- 
mersed Jesus  in  running  water,  is  to  say  this, 
that  he  violated  the  plainest  laws  on  the  sta- 
tute-book directing  the  mode  of  baptism;  that 
he  disobeved  the  reiterated  instructions  of  God: 
that  he  put  aside  the  examples  of  his  ancestors 
from  Aaron  down ;  that  he  contravened  all  the 
precedents  of  his  nation  established  in  every 
tribe;  in  short,  that  he  did  what  no  Jew,  act- 
ing under  divine  instruction,  had  ever  done 
before.  Believe  this  who  can.  For  our  own 
part,  the  case  is  a  very  clear  one.     John  liad 


How  was  Jesus  Baptized  f  15 

before  him  a  record  of  baptisms  running 
through  1500  years.  He  conformed  to  the  re- 
cord. He  did  what  his  father  Zacharias,  and 
all  his  forefathers  as  far  back  as  Aaron  had 
done.  He  did  just  what  God  commanded 
every  minister  of  His  to  do.  He  sprinkled 
the  running  water  on  Jesus,  his  and  our  ador- 
able Lord. 

II. 

Though  the  facts  of  tlie  Bible  that  have 
been  presented  are  so  clear  in  showing  the 
mode  of  baptism,  an  attempt  is  made  to  set 
them  aside.  To  do  this,  it  is  said  that  the 
cases  in  which  the  Jews,  by  divine  command, 
washed  themselves,  are  the  only  examples  of 
baptism  in  the  Old  Testament;  and  that  these 
self-ablutions  were  immersions  of  the  whole 
body  in  water. 

SELF- WASHING  NO  PRECEDENT. 
We  think  that  a  few  simple  considerations 
should  have  prevented  such  a  view  as  this  from 


16  How  VMS  Jesus  Baptized? 

ever  being  advanced.  First,  when  a  Jew 
washed  himself,  it  was  a  very  different  case 
from  the  baptism  of  Jesus  by  John.  Jesus 
did  not  wash  Himself.  Under  the  gospel  no 
man  cleanses  himself  in  baptisai.  The  cleans- 
ing is  done  by  a  minister  appointed  by  God. 
The  Jew  cleansing  himself  is  not,  then,  as  the 
lawyers  would  say,  a  precedent  in  the  case. 
The  real  precedent  is  the  cleansing  of  a  Jew^ 
with  water  by  a  minister  of  God.  We  have 
seen  how  this  was  done.  It  was  always  by 
sprinkling. 

AN  IMPOKTANT  DISTINCTION. 
And  underlying  this  there  was  a  great  spirit- 
ual truth.  Baptism  does  not  represent  what 
a  man  does  for  himself.  It  represents  what 
God  does  for  him.  Man  is  a  spiritual  leper. 
God,  by  His  sovereign  grace,  tjleanses  the  lep- 
rosy. Man  is  polluted  with  spiritual  death. 
God  rids  him  of  the  pollution.  Man  is  an 
alien  and  stranger  to  God.  God  brings  him 
nigh   and   consecrates   him.      And  it  is  this 


How  was  Jesus  Baptized?  17 

cleansing,  consecrating  grace  of  God  that  is 
represented  in  baptism.  In  this,  man  stands 
simply  as  a  recipient.  He  does  nothing  for 
himself.  And  because  it  is  all  an  act  of  God, 
God  appoints  His  minister  as  His  representa- 
tive to  do  all  the  action  in  baptism.  The  man 
who  is  baptized  merely  accepts.  He  receives 
baptism.  The  act  of  the  minister  represents 
the  act  of  God  in  bestowing  His  grace.  And 
yet,  after  we  have  received  the  grace  of  God, 
there  is  a  lifelong  work  before  us.  We  are 
to  "cleanse  ourselves  from  all  filthiness  of  the 
flesh  and  spirit,  perfecting  holiness  in  the  fear 
of  God."     (2  Cor.  vii.  1.) 

Just  so  it  was  represented  to  the  Jew.  The 
minister  of  God  sprinkled  on  him  the  "water 
of  purifying."  Here  was  the  cleansing,  con- 
secrating grace  of  God  in  baptism.  "Sprink- 
ling the  unclean,"  says  the  Apostle,  "sancti- 
iieth  to  the  purifying  of  the  flesh."  (Heb.  vii. 
13.)  But  now,  cleansed  and  consecrated,  the 
sinner  must  proceed  to  battle  with  his  own 
corruptions.  He  must  purge  away  his  own 
2 


18  How  was  Jesus  Baptized? 

filthiness  of  spirit.  And  this  self-cleansing 
work  was  symbolized  by  the  self-washing.  The 
minister  of  God  first  sprinkled  water  on  him. 
Then  the  saved  man  must  go  and  wash  him- 
self. First,  the  act  of  God  in  cleansing  tlie 
sinner;  then  the  work  of  the  sinner  cleansing 
himself.  This  distinction,  so  clear  and  simple, 
lies  at  the  foundation  of  all  true  theology. 
Had  it  been  duly  observed  in  the  study  of 
the  Jewish  ritual,  the  self-washings  of  the 
Jew  would  never  have  been  adduced  as  the 
counterpart  of  Christian  baptism. 

NO  SELF-IMMERSION  AMONG  GOD'S  PEOPLE. 
But  in  the  next  place,  and  finally.  When 
the  Jew  washed  himself,  he  did  not  immerse 
his  whole  body  in  water.  Study  the  Old 
Testament  through,  and  not  a  case  can  be 
found  in  which  one  of  the  people  of  God 
immersed  himself.  The  Hebrew  word  used 
f©r  these  self-washings  is  rachatz.  The  trans- 
lators of  the  King  James'  version  sometimes 
render  it "  wash,"  sometimes  "  bathe."  It  means 


How  was  Jesus  Bajptizedf  19 

eimplj  to  wash.  It  is  used  when  Abraham 
invites  the  three  strangers  to  wash  their  feet. 
(Gen.  xviii.  4.)  It  is  used  when  we  are  told 
that  Joseph  washed  his  face.  (Gen.  ixiii.  31.) 
It  is  used  when  the  Jew  is  commanded  to  wash 
a  piece  of  meat.  (Ex.  xxix.  17.)  It  is  used 
to  describe  the  washing  of  hands  ov^er  the  body 
of  the  slain  heifer,  (Deut.  xxi.  6,)  and  the  w^ash- 
ing  of  the  eyes  with  milk  (Cant.  v.  12.)  It 
means  to  wash,  and  nothing  more.  And  so, 
when  the  simple  statement  of  Scripture  is  that 
a  man  washed  himself,  who  is  he  that  shall 
venture  to  add  to  the  words  of  inspiration  by 
saying  that  the  man  went  and  dipped  himself 
head  and  ears  under  water?  Is  this  the  way 
in  which  men  commonly  wash  themselves  ? 
The  question  needs  no  answer. 

A  GKEAT  MISTAKE  ABOUT  THE  GREAT   LAYER, 
We  once  heard  a  Baptist  minister  enlarge 
on  the  subject  of  the  great  laver  in  the  court  of 
the  tabernacle.     In  this  laver  the  priests  were 
commanded    to    wash    themselves;    and    our 


20  iTow  was  Jesus  Baptized  f 

Baptist  brother  informed  us  that  in  these  wash- 
ings the  priests  always  immersed  themselves. 
Maimonides  and  other  Jewish  writers  said  so. 
Some  eloquence  was  expended  on  the  spectacle 
of  the  priests  dipping  themselves  in  the  great 
basin.  We  had  an  opportunity  to  reply,  and 
we  simply  turned  the  brother  to  tlie  account  of 
this  washing  of  the  priests  as  given  in  Exodus 
xl.  30-32.  Here  it  is:  "And  he  set  the  laver 
between  the  tent  of  the  congregation  and  the 
altar,  and  put  water  there  to  wash  withal.  And 
Moses  and  Aaron  and  his  sons  washed  their 
hands  and  their  feet  thereat;  wdien  they  went 
into  the  tent  of  the  congregation,  and  when 
they  came  near  unto  the  altar,  they  washed, 
as  the  Lord  commanded  Moses."  Where  now 
was  the  imaginative  picture  of  the  priests  im- 
mersing themselves  in  the  laver?  It  was  gone 
"lilve  the  baseless  fabric  of  a  vision."  When 
the  priests  were  commanded  to  wash  them- 
selves in  the  laver,  they  simply  washed  their 
hands  and  feet. 

When  we  are  told,  then,  that  Rabbi  Mai- 


How  was  Jesus  Baptized  ?  21 

monides,  who  lived  more  than  a  thousand  years 
after  Christ,  or  any  other  rabbi,  declares  that 
the  self-washinffs  of  the  Old  Testament  were 
self-immersions,  w'e  answer  that  we  do  not  pro- 
pose to  accept  the  traditions  of  Jewish  elders, 
or  the  traditions  of  anybody  else,  and  thereby 
make  void  the  law  of  God.  It  has  been  our 
lot  to  hear  the  traditions  of  many  elders — 
elders  Presbyterian,  elders  Methodist,  elders 
Koman  Catholic,  brought  forward  in  support 
of  immersion.  But,  with  the  word  of  God  be- 
fore us,  all  the  traditions  of  all  the  elders  w^ho 
have  lived  are  ligliter  than  a  single  straw. 
"To  the  law  and  to  the  testimony:  if  .they 
speak  not  according  to  this  word,  it  is  because 
there  is  no  light  in  them."     (Isa.  viii.  20.) 

In  the  record  of  baptisms  from  Moses  to 
Christ,  we  have  seen  that  there  is  not  a  single 
instance  in  which  one  Jew  immersed  another. 
Now  we  see  that,  in  the  record,  tliere  is  not  a 
single  instance  in  which  a  Jew  immersed  him- 
self. 

Where,  then,  is  immersion  ? 


22  How  was  Jesits  Baptized  f 

III. 

When  Moses  or  any  other  minister  under 
the  law  sprinkled  water,  it  was  mingled  with 
the  blood  of  the  sacrifice,  or  its  equivalent,  the 
ashes.  AVhen  John  sprinkled  water,  it  was 
not  mingled  with  blood.  Why  was  this  dif- 
ference ? 

WATER  A  SYMBOL  OF  THE  SPIRIT. 

The  running  water  was  a  symbol  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  This  is  implied  in  many  parts 
of  the  Bible,  (Isa.  xliv.  3 ;  Mark  i.  8 ;  John  iii. 
5;  Acts  xi.  47;  Titus  iii.  5,  6,)  and  is  expressly 
declared  b^^  the  apostle  John.  He  tells  us 
that  when  Jesus  spake  of  the  rivers  of  living 
water.  He  spake  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  (John 
vii.  38,  39.)  Clear,  bright,  life-giving  and 
cleansing,  the  living  water  was  the  vivid  sym- 
bol of  the  Spirit  of  life.  Now,  the  apostle 
John  says  further  in  his  1st  Epistle,  5th  chap- 
ter: "There  are  three  that  bear  witness  in 
earth,  the  spirit  and  the  water  and  the  blood ; 
and  these  three  agree  in  one,"     That  is,  the 


/ 


How  was  tTestis  Baptized  f  23 

water  symbolizes  the  Spirit,  wliich  applies  the 
blood  of  the  atonement  to  cleanse  from  sin. 
This  is  the  whole  of  salvation;  and  it  is  this 
blessed  sum  total  of  salvation  that  is  seen  in 
the  sprinklings  of  the  law.  The  blood  of  the 
sacritice  had  been  shed.  The  atonement  had 
been  made.  But  what  avails  the  atonement 
unless  it  is  applied  to  the  sinnei  ?  And  how 
is  it  applied  ?  Why,  the  living  water,  represent- 
ing the  Spirit  of  life,  is  the  medium  by  which 
the  blood  is  applied;  and  so,  the  Spirit  and 
the  water  and  the  blood  bore  witness  in  earth. 
So  it  was  till  John  the  Baptist  came.  His 
ministry  has  been  well  described  by  the  great 
Baptist  minister,  Robert  Hall.  It  partook 
both  of  the  Old  Testament  and  of  the  Kew.  It 
was  of  the  Old,  because  its  object  was  to  pre- 
pare the  way  of  the  Lord.  It  was  of  the  'New, 
because  the  great  sacrifice  was  now  come. 
Robert  Hall  compares  it  to  the  twilight.  It 
lay  between  the  obscurity  of  one  dispensation 
and  the  splendor  of  another.  Chrysostom 
compares  it  to  a  bridge,  whose  springing  arch 


24:  B:o20  was  Jesus  Baptized? 

binds  together  parallel  shores.     One  abutment 
rested  on  the  Mosaic  economy,  the  other  rested 
on  the  Christian.     As  the  ministry  of   John 
was  partly  legal,  partly  evangelical,  so  was  his 
baptism.     It  was  anticipative  of   Christ.     ''  I 
knew  him  not,"  said  John,  "but  that  he  should 
be  manifest  to  Israel,  therefore,  am  I  come 
baptizing  with  water."     Yet  it  implied  that  the 
Lamb  of  God,  about  to  be  manifest,  was  now 
in  the  world. 

BAPTIZING  IN  THE  JOKDAN. 
Since  John's  baptism  was  partly  of  the  law 
and  partly  of  the  gospel,  we  might  expect  tliat 
it  would  combine  the  features  of  both.     And 
so  it  did.     It  was  of   the   law,  in  that   John 
always  used    running   water.      It  was  of  the 
gospel,  in  that  the  blood  of  the  sacrifice  was 
now  left  out.     And  here  we  have  the  simple 
reason  why  the  evangelists  mark  so  carefully 
the  fact  that  John  baptized  in  the  river  Jordan. 
When  we  say  that  a  man  washed  his  face  m 
the  river,  we  do  not  mean  that  he  immersed 


How  was  Jesus  Baptized  ?  25 

his  face  in  the  river.  We  mean  that  he  used 
no  basin.  He  applied  the  water  to  his  face 
directly  from  the  river.  Now,  when  John's 
ancestors  used  running  water  in  baptism,  they 
always,  by  God's  command,  put  the  water  in 
a  basin,  (Lev.  xiv.  5;  Num.  xix.  IT,)  that  it 
nn'ght  be  mixed  with  the  blood  or  the  ashes  of 
tlie  sacrifice.  John  used  no  basin.  As  a  Jew 
would  have  washed  the  face  of  his  little  child 
in  the  Jordan,  so  John  baptized  in  the  Jordan. 
He  applied  the  running  water  directly  from 
the  stream.*  This  showed  in  the  clearest  light 
that  the  water  which  he  took  up  from  the  river 


*  There  is  not  a  particle  of  evidence  in  the  Greek  New 
Testament  that  either  John  or  Jesus  went  into  the  river. 
As  for  the  preposition  "m,"  if  any  one  will  turn  to  the 
Greek  Bible  which  the  writers  of  the  gospels  used,  (Sep- 
tuagint — 1  Kings  ii.  8  ;  2  Kings  vi.  4  ;  ii.  6  ;  ii.  21  ;  Judges 
iv.  7,)  he  will  find  case  after  case  in  which  "m"  takes 
people  down  to  the  Jordan  and  other  streams  without  tak- 
ing them  at  all  into  the  water.  As  for  "aj?<?,"  even  so 
strenuous  an  immersionist  as  Dr.  Carson  admits  the  in- 
correctness of  our  English  version.  "  The  proper  trans- 
lation of  "a^(?  "  is  "from."  "He  came  up  from  the  water," 
(Carson  on  baptism,  pp.  126-140.) 


26  How  was  Jesus  Baptized  ? 

was  im mingled  with  blood,  according  to  the 
gospel.  It  showed  with  equal  clearness  that 
he  used  running  water,  according  to  the  law ; 
and  as  he  used  running  water,  so,  according  to 
all  the  commandments  and  ordinances  of  God, 
he  sprinkled  it  upon  those  whom  he  baptized. 
After  John,  we  find  no  instance  in  the  New 
Testament,  where  any  one  went  to  running 
water  in  order  to  baptize.  The  liberty  of  the 
gospel  was  fully  come,  and  that  freedom  which 
dispensed  with  unleavened  bread  in  the  supper, 
and  permitted  any  kind  of  bread,  dispensed 
also  with  the  running  water  in  baptism,  and 
allowed  any  water  that  might  be  at  hand.  So 
it  has  been  to  our  day. 

WATER  NOT  A  SYMBOL  OF  THE  GKAVE. 
Yet,  as  in  the  baptism  of  Jesus,  the  water 
was  the  symbol  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  so  it  is 
now.  If  a  man  says  that  the  water  with  which 
Jesus  was  baptized  symbolizes  the  grave — a 
place  of  burial — we  tell  him  that  this  denies 
and  contradicts  the  significance  of  the  water  as 


Hoxo  was  Jesus  Baptized  ?  27 

a  symbol  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  A  dove  cannot 
be  a  symbol  of  gentleness  and  of  fierceness. 
Oil  cannot  be  a  symbol  of  the  fi^ladness  which 
makes  the  face  to  shine  and  of  the  rigidity 
which  sits  on  the  face  of  a  corpse.  Water 
cannot  be  a  symbol  of  the  life-giving  Spirit 
and  of  the  grave. 

The  Holy  Gliost  is  the  Spirit  of  light,  illu- 
minating the  minds  of  men.  The  grave  is  the 
abode  of  darkness.  "  What  concord,"  says  the 
apostle  Paul,  "  hath  light  with  darkness  ?"  The 
Holy  Spirit  is  the  Spirit  of  cleansing.  The 
water  cleanses.  But  who  ever  descended  into 
a  grave  to  be  cleansed  ?  Who  was  ever  put 
down  into  the  place  of  corruption  and  decay  in 
order  to  be  made  pure?  The  Holy  Ghost  is 
the  Spirit  of  praise.  He  gives  new  tongues  to 
men.  On  the  day  of  Pentecost  he  made  the 
room  in  which  the  disciples  were  gathered 
vocal  with  the  praises  of  God.  The  grave  ia 
the  abode  of  dread  silence.  And  how  can  praise 
and  silence,  how  can  cleansing  and  corruption, 
how  can  brightness  and  darkness,  how  can  life 


28  How  was  Jesus  Baptized  ? 

and  death  exist  in  the  same  symbol?  This 
cannot  be.  The  church  which  holds  that  the 
water  is  a  symbol  of  the  grave  must  deny  that 
the  water  is  a  symbol  of  the  Spirit.  It  is  thus 
left  without  any  symbol  of  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
and  tlie  symbol  being  lost,  the  tendency  is,  as 
the  sad  experience  of  many  of  the  churches 
which  immerse  has  shown,  to  ignore  and  deny 
the  presence  and  work  of  the  Spirit  in  the 
church. 

TWO  GIFTS  AND  TWO  SYMBOLS. 

God  has  given  to  His  people  two  great  gifts 
— His  Son,  who  died  for  us,  and  His  Spirit, 
who  makes  known  to  us  the  Son.  For  each 
of  these  gifts  He  has  appointed  a  symbol.  In 
the  supper  we  have  the  symbol  of  His  Son;  in 
baptism  we  have  the  symbol  of  the  Spirit;  and 
no  church  can  reject  the  symbol  of  the  Spirit 
without  inflicting  on  itself  a  wound  that  must 
be  felt  through  the  whole  body. 

In  the  baptism  of  Jesus,  the  presence  of  the 
Spirit  was  conspicuous.     It  was  then  the  Holy 


I 


How  was  Jesus  Baptized?  29 

Ghost  descended  on  Him;  and  as  the  Spirit 
descended  on  Him  from  above,  so  the  water  de- 
scended from  above.  He  was  baptized  by 
sprinkling. 

IV. 

In  tlie  history  of  John's  ministry  the  word 
"  haptidzd^''  (baptize)  is  first  used  by  the  inspired 
writers.     Why  was  this  word  chosen  ? 

^  A  CLEAR  CASE. 
If  anything  in  language  is  plain,  it  is  that 
this  Avord  was  not  chosen  to  denote  "immerse," 
or  dip,  or  plunge.  The  apostles  were  baptized 
with  the  Holy  Spirit  at  Pentecost  (Acts  i.  5), 
and  the  Spirit  was  poured  out  on  them,  (Acts 
ii.  16,  IT,  33).  They  were  baptized  with  fire 
(Matt.  iii.  11),  and  a  tongue  of  fire  came  down 
and  "sat  upon  each  of  them,"  (Acts  ii.  3). 
The  whole  people  of  Israel  were  baptized  in 
the  pillar  of  cloud  (1  Cor.  x.  1,  2),  and  the 
cloud  never  touched  them.     They  were  bap- 


30  How  was  Jesus  Baptized  f 

tized  in  the  sea,  and  not  a  drop  of  water  came 
near  them.  Noah  and  his  family  were  bap- 
tized in  the  flood  (1  Peter  iii.  20,  21),  and  they 
rode  safe  and  dry  over  its  waves.  The  Saviour 
was  baptized  in  His  sufferings  (Luke  xii.  50), 
and  in  them  He  was  "stricken"  and  "smitten," 
(Isa.  liii.  4).  Tlie  great  Baptizer  is  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  He  baptizes  all  His  people.  He 
baptizes  them  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  (1  Cor.  xii. 
13) ;  and  He  pours  out  the  Holy  Ghost  on  them 
all,  (Titus  iii.  5,  6).  So  here  we  have  case 
after  case  in  which  the  inspired  writers  use 
^'haptidzo  ;'^  and  it  is  as  clear  as  sunlight  that 
in  not  one  of  these  do  they  mean  immerse,  or 
dip,  or  plunge.  When  a  man  asks  us  to  be- 
lieve that  the  brawny  fisherman,  Peter,  was 
immersed  in  a  tongue  of  fire  no  larger  than  his 
hand,  or  that  the  thousands  of  Israel  were  im- 
mersed in  a  cloud  which  moved  high  above 
their  heads,  he  simply  asks  us  to  abdicate  all 
common  sense.  This  we  shall  aim  not  to 
do. 


How  was  Jesus  Baptized  f  31 

A  GKAND  y  ORD. 

Why  then  was  '^haptidzo'^  chosen  ? 

The  Greek  language  is  the  noblest  ever 
spoken  by  man,  and-lche  word '^Jajp^zW^o"  is 
one  of  the  noblest  words  in  the  Greek.  When 
a  person  was  brought  completely  under  the 
influence  or  power  of  anything,  he  was  said  by 
the  Greeks  to  be  baptized  in  that  thing.  Alex- 
ander the  Great  was  brought  completely  under 
the  intoxicating  influence  of  wine ;  the  Greeks 
said  that  he  was  baptized  in  wdne,  (Cono. 
Narrat.  50).  A  merchant  was  brought  com- 
pletely under  the  depressing  influence  of  debt; 
the  Greeks  said  that  he  was  baptized  in  debts, 
(Plato  Symph.  176  B.).  A  city  was  brought 
completely  under  the  lawless  influence  of  bri- 
gands ;  the  Greeks  said  that  it  was  baptized  by 
brigands,  (Josephus,  B.  I.  433).  A  Jew  was 
brought  completely  under  the  terrifying  in- 
fluence of  the  approaching  Chaldean  army ; 
the  Greeks  said  that  he  was  baptized  in  the 
wickedness  of  the  invasion,  (Septuagint — Isa. 
xxi.  4).     And  so  in  other  cases.     The  word 


32  How  was  Jesus  Baptized? 

'^haptidzd^'^  had  a  power  which  we  find  in  no 
single  word  of  any  language  with  which  we 
have  had  to  do. 

GKANDEUR  OF  MEANING  IN  NEW  TESTAMENT. 
It  was  with  this  noble  fulness  of  meaning 
the  word  was  adopted  by  the  writers  of  the 
ISTew^  Testament.  They  had  a  grand  idea  to 
express.  God  brings  His  people  completely — 
body,  soul  and  spirit — under  a  purifying,  sancti- 
fying influence.  To  express  this  all-pervasive, 
cleansing,  consecrating  influence,  the  word 
''^haptidzo'''  was  chosen.  The  apostles  were 
baptized  with  the  Spirit.  They  were  brought 
completely  under  the  purifying  influence  of 
the  Spirit.  They  were  baptized  with  fire. 
They  were  brought  completely  under  the  puri- 
fying influence  of  the  tiny  flame  which  sat  upon 
them.  Their  dross  was  purged  away.  They 
became  red-hot  men.  They  spake  with  tongues 
of  fire.  The  people  of  Israel  were  baptized  in 
the  cloud,  and  in  the  sea.  The  whole  nation 
was  brought  under  the  purifying  influence  of 


How  was  Jesus  Baptized  f  33 

the  supernatural  guidance  granted  tliom  in  the 
cloud,    and    of     the    miraculous    deliverance 
through   tlie  passage  of  the  sea.     Tlien   they 
^^  believed  tlie  Lord  and  His  servant  Moses," 
(Ex.  xiv.  31).      Noah  and  his  family  were  bap- 
tized  in  the  ark.      They   were  brought  com- 
pletely under  the  purifying  intluence  of  the 
great  flood  of  waters  over  which  they  rode. 
The  worldly   wickedness  whicli  threatened  to 
overwhelm    them   was    swept    away,   and    the 
surviving  human  race  was  anew  consecrated  in 
covenant  to  God.     Our  Lord  Jesus  was  bap- 
tized in  His  sufferings.     He  was  brought  com- 
pletely under  the  purifying   influence  of  the 
mighty  agony  through  which  He  passed.     Not 
that  He   had  sin  to  be  purged  away;    "yet 
learned  He  obedience  by  the  things  w^hich  He 
suffered,"  (Heb.  v.  8).     He  was  "made  perfect 
through  sufterings,"  (Heb.  ii.  10).     The  purity 
and  holiness  of  His  human  nature  received  a 
new  development,  an  enlarged  strength  in  the 
supreme  trial  by  which  He  conquered  for  us. 
Every  true  believer  is  baptized  with  the  Spirit 
% 


34:  How  was  Jesus  Baptized? 

and  with  water.  All  his  powers  and  faculties 
are  brought  really  under  the  purifying,  sancti- 
fying influence  of  the  Spirit,  and  symbolically 
under  the  like  influence/of  the  water.  So  with 
every  baptism,  whether  of  the  Old  Testament 
or  of  the  New.  The  inspired  writers  know  but 
one  meaning  for  the  word  ^'haptidzd^'^  \  it  is  to 
bring  completely  under  a  purifying  influence. 
With  them  the  word  always  means  this,  and  it 
means  nothing  but  this. 

SPEINKLING  THE  SYMBOL  OF  TOTAL 
PURIFICATION. 

If  such  be  the  grand  spiritual  idea  embodied 
in  the  word  baptize,  is  this  fulness  of  truth 
properly  symbolized  by  the  use  of  a  little  water? 
If  to  baptize  is  to  bring  a  man — body,  soul  and 
spirit — under  a  purifying  influence,  is  all  this 
rightly  expressed  by  sprinkling  a  few  clear 
drops  on  the  person  ? 

This  question  we  have  no  need  ourselves  to 
answer.  We  step  back  that  God  may  reply. 
He  has  given  a  response  that  is  clear,  full,  de- 
cisive.     Here  are   His  blessed   words,   which 


How  tca^  Jesus  Bapttzed  f  35 

reach  to  His  people  through  all  time:  "Then 
will  I  sprinkle  clean  water  upon  you,  and  ye 
shall  be  clean  :  from  all  vuur  filthincss  and 
from  all  your  idols  will  1  cleanse  you.  A  new 
lieart  also  will  I  give  you,  and  a  new  spirit  will 
I  put  within  you :  and  I  will  take  away  the 
stony  heart  out  of  your  Hesli,  and  I  will  give 
you  an  heart  of  flesh.  And  I  will  put  my 
Spirit  within  you,  and  cause  you  to  walk  in  my 
statutes,  and  ye  shall  keep  my  judgments  and 
do  them,"  (Ezek.  xxxvi.  25-27).  What  more 
can  God  do  for  any  of  His  people  on  earth  \ 
Here,  in  the  fullest,  most  comprehensive  terms 
that  language  can  afford,  He  promises  to  them 
the  purifying,  sanctifying  grace  of  His  Spirit, 
cleansing  them  from  all  filthiness  of  sin,  and 
consecrating  them  wholly  to  His  blessed  service. 
And  this  all-purifying,  all-sanctifying,  all-per- 
vasive influence,  how  does  God  say  that  it  is 
properly  symbolized?  He  tells  us  emphati- 
cally, by  the  sprinkling  of  clean  water.  To 
bring  His  people  completely  under  a  purifying 
influence,  He  has  designated  but  one  symbol. 


36  How  was  Jesus  Baptized? 

There  is  but  one  true,  lieaven-appoiuted  mode 
of  baptism.     It  is  the  sprinkling  of  water. 

THE  PROMISE  AND  THE  SYMBOL. 

When  Jesus  was  baptized,  God  fulfilled  to 
Him  the  promise,  "1  will  put  my.  Spirit  within 
you."  When  God  fulfilled  tliis  promise  to  His 
Son,  did  He  change  the  symbol  annexed  to  the 
promise?  We  trow  not.  At  Jordan  He  filled 
Jesus  with  the  Spirit  (Luke  iv.  1),  and  through 
His  minister,  John,  according  to  His  explicit 
assurance,  He  sprinkled  clean  water  upon  Him. 

When  God  has  spoken,  controversy  among 
His  people  should  end.  Whether  we  can  per- 
ceive the  reason  for  His  command  or  not,  our 
only  wisdom  and  our  safety  is  to  obey.  And  yet 
He  invites  us  to  study  the  rationale  of  His  acts. 
He  calls  us  to  "mark  well"  the  ordinances  of 
His  Church,  that  we  may  know  the  beauty  and 
the  wisdom  with  which  they  are  framed.     So 


How  was  Jesus  Baptized  f  37 

with  baptism.  Here  we  have  a  great  truth, 
the  purifying,  sanctifyhig  grace  of  God's  Spirit^ 
symbolized  by  the  sprinkling  of  a  little  water. 
As  Paul,  speaking  of  the  ashes  put  in  the 
water  of  purifying,  has  expressed  it  in  one 
sentence,  "sprinkling  the  unclean,  sanctilieth 
to  the  purifying  of  the  flesh."  (Heb.  ix.  13.) 
But  if  tlie  truth  s3'mbolized  be  so  vast,  why 
use  so  little  water?  If  tlie  grace  given  be 
great,  why  not  use  a  great  deal  of  water? 

KATIONALE. 
The  answer  to  this  question  brings  before  u& 
the  adorable  wisdom  of  God.  There  is  a  rea- 
son why  God  commands  us  to  use  only  a  lit- 
tle water.  He  has  constructed  all  tlie  symbols- 
of  His  Church  on  a  beautiful  principle — a  prin- 
ciple that  has  been  recognized  by  every  intel- 
ligent and  refined  nation,  botli  of  ancient  and 
modern  times.  It  is  this:  Whenever  a  great 
spiritual  truth  is  symbolized  hy  a  imiterial 
thing,  it  is  necessary  that  a  small  qiiant'dy  of 
the  material  le  used.,  in  order  that  the  spiritual 


38  How  vxis  Jestts  Baptized  f 

truth  may  he  held  vividly  hefore  the  inind  and 
heart.  Wliere  this  principle  is  understood, 
there  will  be  no  difficulty  in  perceiving  why 
God  wishes  us  to  use  only  a  little  water  in 
baptism. 


A  LITTLE  MATERIAL  IN  THE  SYMBOLS  OF 

CHRIST. 

To  illustrate.     In  the  Lord's  supper  there  is 
a  great  spiritual  truth  presented  to  us.     It  is 
the  sacrifice  of   Christ,  satisfvina"  the  iiuman 
soul.     The  fulness  and  freeness  of  the  gift  of 
the  Son  are  symbolized  hv  tlie  l)read  and  the 
wine.     If,  then,  so  mucli  grace  is  offered  us  in 
the  symbols,  ouglit  we  not  to  take  much  of 
the  bread   and    wine?     All   Christians  answer 
no.     This   was  the  error  of  the   Corinthians. 
(1  Cor.  xi.  22-3-1.)     They  ate  nnich  bread  and 
drank  much  wine  at  the  supper;  but  Paul  cor- 
rected this.     He  taught  them  to  satisfy  their 
hunger  at  home,  so  that  in   the  church  they 
would  use  but  a  small  quantit}^  of  bread  and 
wine;  and  from  that  day  to  this,  all  Christians 


How  was  Jesus  Baptized?  89 

have  eaten  but  a  morsel  of  bread  and  drank 
but  a  sip  of  wine  at  this  feast. 

And  why  not  mucli  bread  and  much  wine  to 
symbolize  much  grace?  The  answer  is  easy: 
If  we  had  to  eat  and  to  drink  much,  the  very 
quantity  of  the  food  and  drink  would  distract 
our  attention  from  the  great  spiritual  truth 
which  is  symbolized.  Our  mind  would  be 
turned  to  the  material  feast  ratlier  than  to  the 
spiritual  grace.  But  our  Lord  wishes  it  the 
other  wav.  He  would  have  our  mind  and 
heart  filled  with  Him  and  tlie  fulness  of  His 
dying  love;  and  to  this  end  He  allows  us 
barely  enough  of  the  material  to  suggest  Him, 
and  not  so  much  as  to  turn  our  thouglits  away. 
He  instructs  us  to  take  hut  a  little  bread  and 
a  little  wine. 

LITTLE  MATERIAL  IX  THE  SYMBOL  OF  THE 

GREEK. 

The  Greeks  understood  this  principle.     Tlie 

highest  victory  achieved  by  a  Grecian  citizen 

was  symbolized  by  a  crown  wliich  tlie  victor 

wore.     And  what  was  the  crown?     Was  it  a 


40  Hoxc  xoas  Jesus  Baptized? 

massive  ornament  of  gold?  Was  it  a  diadem 
sparkling  witli  precious  stones?  Not  at  all.  It 
was  a  simple  crown  of  leaves.  And  why  only 
a  crown  of  leaves  ?  Again  the  answer  is  plain : 
A  crown  of  burnished  gold,  a  diadem  glitter- 
ing with  jewels,  would  have  attracted  attention 
to  itself.  The  crowd  tliat  beheld  it  would  have 
thought  of  the  splendor  of  the  symbol  rather 
than  of  the  glorj^  of  the  achievement  which 
it  symbolized.  So  the  Greeks  allowed  barely 
enough  material  in  the  trophy  to  suggest  the 
victory,  and  not  so  much  as  would  fix  attention 
on  the  trophy  itself.  Their  highest  symbol 
was  made  of  a  branch  of  laurel. 

LITTLE  MATERIAL  IN  THE  SYMBOL  OF  WEDDED 

LOVE. 

Every  intelligent  nation  of  modern  times 
has  adopted  this  principle  of  symbology.  The 
deepest  love  known  among  the  children  of  men 
is  that  which  exists  between  husband  and  wife. 
And  what  is  the  chosen  symbol  to  express  this 
love?  Is  it  a  full  set  of  jewelry  ?  Is  it  much 
fine  gold?     No.     It  is  the  simplest  of  orna- 


How  was  Jesus  Baptized?  41 

ments,  a  ring.  And  is  the  ring  set  with  dia- 
monds ur  rubies  or  pearls?  No.  It  lias  no 
stone.  It  is  not  even  enchased ;  it  is  not  so 
much  as  carved.  It  is  simplicity  itself — a  plain 
gold  ring.  And  why  is  the  deepest  of  earthly  af- 
fections symbolized  by  the  most  meagre  of 
earthly  ornaments?  The  answer  lias  been 
given.  Did  the  eyes  of  the  wife  rest  on  a  set 
of  rich  jewelry,  or  on  a  ring  blazing  with 
diamonds,  her  thoughts  would  be  arrested  by 
the  material  of  the  symbol.  As  it  is,  there  is 
only  enough  material  allowed  to  suggest  the 
mutual  love,  leaving  th«  mind  free  to  dwell  on 
the  sweet  depth  of  the  truth. 

LITTLE  MATERIAL  IN  THE  SYMBOL  OF  BAPTISM. 
It  is  just  so  in  baptism.  The  precious  truth 
symbolized  is  the  purifying  influence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  sent  down  by  Jesus  Christ.  The' 
symbol  of  this  truth  is  w^ater.  To  use  "  much 
water  ^'  is  to  hold  back  the  thoughts  from  the 
truth.  If  a  man  stands  while  bucketful  after 
bucketful  of  water^is  poured  upon  him,  he  is 


42  How  was  Jesus  Baptized? 

sure  to  have  his  thoughts  iixed  only  on  the 
drenching  to  which  he  submits.  If  he  is  taken 
out  on  a  wintry  day  and  plunged  under  the 
cold  waters  of  some  stream,  it  is  not  in  flesh 
and  blood  to  think  of  anything  save  the  icy 
shock  of  tlie  current,  and  the  dripping  discom- 
fort in  the  freezing  air.  To  rise  above  such  a 
symbol  as  this  to  the  contemplation  of  spiritual 
truth,  would  demand  nerves  of  iron  and  a  su- 
perhuman will.  So,  as  God  has  taught  us  to 
use  but  a  little  bread  and  a  little  wine  in  the 
supper,  He  has  taught  us  to  use  but  a  little 
water  in  baptism  ;  only  enough  to  suggest  to 
the  mind  the  truth  of  the  Spirit's  purification, 
yet  leaving  the  mind  free  to  dwell  on  the 
blessed  truth  itself.  For  this  reason  He  says, 
^'  I  will  sprinkle  clean  water  upon  you."  "  So 
shall  He  sprinkle  many  nations." 

in  closing  this  little  tract,  it  is  with  pleasure 
we  avail  ourselves  of  the  oppoi'tunity  to  declare 
our  appreciation  of  the  Christian  graces  and 
the  Christian  labors  wdiich  are  seen  among  our 
brethren  who  practise  immersion.     There  are 


Hoxo  was  Jesus  Baptized  ?  43 

not  a  few  among  tlietn  with  wliom  we  liave 
taken  sweet  counsel,  and  who,  we  know,  are 
numbered  among  the  excellent  of  the  eartli ; 
yet,  in  their  call  for  "  much  water,*'  based  on 
a  mistranslation  in  our  English  Bible,  as  in 
every  other  feature  of  immersion,  we  are  satis- 
fied that  they  have  made  a  grave  mistake.  It 
is  a  mistake  to  think  tliat  a  sip  of  wine  and  a 
morsel  of  bread  are  not  better  symbols  than  a 
hearty  meal.  It  is  a  mistake  to  tliink  that  a 
ehaplet  of  leaves  was  not  a  better  symbol  to 
the  Greeks  than  a  weiojhtv  crown.  It  is  a  mis- 
take  to  suppose  that  a  plain  gold  ring  is  not  a 
better  symbol  than  a  whole  set  of  jewelry.  It 
is  a  mistake  to  imagine  that  a  single  pressed 
flower  is  not  a  better  memento  tlian  an  entire 
garden,  or  that  a  lock  of  hair  is  not  better  than 
a  whole  wig. 

BEAUTY  OF  CHKISTIAN  SACRAMENTS. 
From  all  this  we  turn  to  scriptural  facts  and 
to  the  principles  of  a  true   taste.     The  on\\- 
nances  of  the  New  Testament  are  beautiful  in 


44  Sow  was  Jesus  Baptized  f 

their  simplicity.  They  rise  above  the  ordi- 
nances of  the  Old  Testament,  in  that  they  use 
less  material.  The  Paschal  Supper  of  the 
New  Testament  is  the  Paschal  Sapper  of  the 
Old  Testament,  with  the  blood  of  the  sacri- 
fice left  out.  The  baptism  of  the  New 
Testament  is  the  baptism  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, likewise  with  tlie  blood  left  out. 
All  the  rites  of  tlie  Old  Testament  which 
pointed  to  the  person  and  work  of  Christ, 
have  been  gathered  up  and  expressed  in 
the  slight  symbols  of  the  supper.  In  the 
same  way,  all  the  rites  w^hich  pointed  to  the 
person  and  work  of  the  Spirit,  have  been  com- 
bined in  the  slight  symbol  of  baptism.  The 
supper  of  the  New  Testament  uses  less  material 
than  the  supper  of  the  Old.  The  baptism  of 
the  New  Testament  uses  less  material  than  the 
baptism  of  the  Old.  It  is  undisputed  that  in 
the  baptisms  of  the  Old  Testament  there  was 
not  a  solitary  instance  in  which  one  man  im-  • 
meised  another.  It  is  undisputed  that  there 
were   innumerable   cases  in   which  one  man, 


How  was  Jesus  Baptized  f  45 

bj  the  divine  command,  sprinkled  water  on 
another.  And  from  all  this  it  follows,  that 
when  a  man  under  the  I^ew  Testament  im- 
merses another  in  much  water,  instead  of 
rising  above  Judaism  to  the  simplicity  of  the 
gospel,  he  has  fallen  below  Judaism.  Instead 
of  sprinkling  a  few  drops,  as  the  Jew  sprinkled, 
he  now  uses  gallons.  Instead  of  making  the 
ordinance  more  refined,  it  is  made  coarser. 
And  the  chariot  wheels  of  the  Lord,  instead 
of  moving  forward  and  upward,  are  turned 
and  made  to  go  downward  and  backward. 

In  the  baptism  of  Jesus,  there  was  an  ad- 
vance  above  Judaism.  The  ordinance  became 
more  refined.  The  material  used  was  di- 
minished. The  blood  of  the  sacrifice  was 
dropped  out.  Only  running  water  remained  ; 
and  Jesus  was  baptized  by  sprinkling. 


DATE  DUE 

*"~*1K 

- 

«^ 

""•^etj^ 

,.-i(^-r 

1 

1 

a 


DEMCO  38-297 


Cyay/ora  

PAMPHLCT  BINoiiT 

IZZZ   Syracuse,  N.  Y. 
;;^^    Stockton,  Calif. 


BS2424.1  .H84 

How  was  jesus  baptized? 


■\r 


